San Jose Foundation for children and mothers in straitened circumstances receives substantial donation from TCM

Oct. 16, 2014

Brown and agile child, the sun which forms the fruit And ripens the grain and twists the seaweed Has made your happy body and your luminous eyes And given your mouth the smile of water.

—Pablo Neruda, “Brown and agile child”

Since the early 1990s, Chile has been one of the most politically stable and economically prosperous countries on the South American continent.

The constitution has been comprehensively revised; and the country’s judicial system has undergone major overhauls in moving away from the colonial-based inquisitorial system towards a more German-inspired, adversarial one.

State coffers bulged in the 1990s as a result of extensive copper mining and high world prices for the metal. Unemployment levels have fallen on average, and signs of the country’s recent economic growth are plain to see in the increase in new cars and building blocks on the streets of Santiago, the country’s capital.

And yet an uneven distribution of wealth reigns, with a great many Chileans finding it extremely difficult to make ends meet and some population groups living in extreme poverty. The country is also beset by a host of other social problems, from street crime and high rape figures to domestic violence and a widespread distrust in the nation’s security forces.

Several groups affected by these conditions are orphaned and socially vulnerable children, and destitute women and rape victims considering an abortion. Established in 1994, the San Jose Foundation (‘Fundación San José’) is a non-for-profit organization whose mission is to promote the welfare of these groups, alongside other women racked by conflicting feelings over their pregnancy and married couples looking to adopt a child. The foundation exercises its humanitarian mandate through adoption programmes, nation-wide counselling services, and orphanages and care centres. (See below for more information).

It comes as no surprise, then, that when Mr. Horacio Manfredi, CEO of TCM Chile, one of Chile’s leading firms in international debt collection, was entrusted with the task of seeking out a worthy beneficiary for TCM Group’s annual fund raising event—a charity auction—he chose the San Jose Foundation. The auction, for which participants from across the globe brought special gifts, took place after the Group’s AGM and raised a total of 6,660,000 Chilean pesos (approximately 12,000 US dollars).

Funds donated will go to support the foundation in its all-important altruistic work of bringing dignity, happiness, and light to those children, mothers, and families in need across the country.

The foundation expressed its profound gratitude on receiving the financial aid and pledged to turn the funds to good account in the service of those who so desperately need them.

Fundación San José

We are a non-for-profit association accredited by SENAME (The Children’s National Service). Our mission is to protect orphaned and vulnerable children and to find adoptive homes for them. Our main goal is “to defend the right of every child to belong to a family”.

Since our establishment, we have helped more than 6,000 women who are experiencing conflicting feelings over their pregnancy and have protected the welfare of more than 1,985 orphaned or vulnerable babies. Through the good offices of our adoption programme, over 1267 children have found suitable adoptive homes and over 903 new families have been established.

Our vision is that of a society that values life and protects the right of every child to be brought up in a family. Our vision is of a society that protects the dignity of women who are going through difficult emotions over their pregnancy. Our vision is also of a society that, through effective adoption programmes, helps married couples who would like to start a family but cannot do so for biological reasons.

Such a society, we believe, will regulate itself on the principles of care and compassion and become a guiding light in the community of nations.

The values underpinning our adoption programmes include respect for and defence of life, which means, among other things, providing protective aid to the family as the core of society.

At present, the foundation is staffed by 80 volunteers entrusted with the care of children in three different homes or centres.